May 30

1834  William Sublette and William Anderson arrive at "Laramee's Fork", named for the late Jacque LaRamie, a trapper who had been killed there. The next day they lay the foundation logs for Fort William, which would be come Ft. Laramie..  Attribution:  On This Day.

1854    The territories of Nebraska and Kansas were established.  Wyoming east of the Rocky Mountains was included in the Nebraska Territory.

1862  Companies A, B, C, and D of the First Battalion of the 6th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry arrived at Fort Laramie.

1865  Cheyenne and/or Sioux attack Three Crossings Station.

1871  Wyoming Stock Growers Association, which would have an enormous impact on Wyoming's history, formed.

1901         Memorial Day becomes a national observance.

1903  Theodore Roosevelt visited Cheyenne and Laramie.  He stopped first in Laramie, where he delivered a speech at Old Main.  Invited by Rough Rider veterans to ride to the next stop, Cheyenne, he did so.

1904  Sheep rancher Lincoln Morrison shot in ambush near Kirby Creek, Hot Springs County, Wyo. He survived.  His mother, Lucy Morrison Moore, “The Sheep Queen,” offers a $3,500 reward but the attempted murderer is not discovered.

1908  The commencement of a Evanston to Denver horse race.  Attribution:  Wyoming State Historical Society.

1916   Memorial Day, 1916
 

So, on Memorial Day, 2016, let's look back a century at Memorial Day, 1916.

Armored car in a parade in New York City.  Mounted policemen, on the left edge of the photo, truly look a lot more mobile and effective than this armored car.

This had to be a really somber Memorial Day.  World War One was raging in Europe. Ships were going down in the North Atlantic.  American soldiers were chasing Villa in Mexico. All that must have hung over the heads of the citizenry like a dark cloud.

Still, usually something goes on for this holiday. And some of it ends up on the front page of the news in anticipation of the day.  Let's see what we can find around the state and nation.  We've put one up above, a parade was held in New York City that featured a rather martial, if rather antiquated looking even then, armored vehicle.

One of the Casper papers didn't see fit to really announce anything on the front page for the day.

One of the Sheridan papers urged honoring veterans.

Another Sheridan paper did honor veterans, and of the conflict with Mexico.  Memorial Day festivities were also noted.

Interestingly, the death of Confederate John Singleton Mosby was also noted.

And Colorado National Guard officials were resigning in the wake of the Ludlow strife.  Quite a paper, all in all.

An important death figured on the front page of the Cheyenne Leader. By that time, that paper was summarizing "the War", meaning the war in Europe, on a regular basis.  Memorial Day was noted in the context of the Grand Army of the Republic, i.e., the Union troops who had fought in the Civil War (although not all joined the GAR of course).

Scandal, war and violence figured on cover of the Wyoming Semi-Weekly Tribune.

 

War and the "draft Roosevelt" movement took pride of place on the cover of The Wyoming Tribune, which also noted Memorial Day in the context of the Civil  War, which after all is what it commemorated.

1997  The USS Wyoming, SSBN 742,  successfully launched one Trident II missile during the ship's Demonstration and Shakedown Operation.

2007  Laramie's post office named after the late Senator Gale McGee.